Region

After 75 auctions, it can be a fairly tricky task to think up new and exciting ways of saying "hello and welcome" (actually after about 5 it's pretty much impossible). So, with that in mind...

Avast mateys! And bienvenue to our 75th Scotch Whisky Auction!

As you might well imagine, a rather sizeable chunk of this rather sizeable auction is devoted to bottles from this year's fantastic, feisty and effervescent Feis Ile. For a week in May the population of Islay swells to epic proportions as whisky aficionados the world over flock there in droves for music, dancing and (of course) drams! The distilleries have pulled out all the stops this year, and released some extremely special whiskies. You'd have to have been pretty dedicated to get your hands on some of them too. Limited to just two hundred bottles, revellers were queuing from 3 AM for a chance to take home Bowmore's 27 Year Old Port Wood matured!

Opinions in the SWA office are divided (as they often are) about which dram most deserves to be crowned King of the Feis. With the overall standard of whisky this year being so high across the board, reaching a consensus was never likely. Caol Ila's Double Matured 12 Year Old, aged in Amoroso Sherry wood certainly features near the top of most people's list. So too does, sister distillery, Lagavulin's 16 Year Old Moscatel monster.

The good news is, even if you missed all the fun of the Feis, or if queuing just isn't your thing, there's a second chance to bag a bottle in the auction!

With such a big presence, you'd be forgiven for thinking that we were all about Islay this month. This stonking 1964 Black Bowmore 50 Year Old does little to debunk that assumption. But, come on! We couldn't not mention it.